Thesis Statement

1
Thesis Statement

• The transition from the research process to the
  writing process

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Mini Writing Lesson

• Avoiding expletive constructions

3
What sentence structures usually work against
conciseness?

• One sentence structure, although appropriate in
  some contexts, often works against conciseness
  because it can lead to wordiness expletive
  constructions.

4
Avoiding expletive constructions

• An expletive construction starts with it or there
  followed by a form of the verb be.
• When you cut the expletive construction and
  revise, the sentence becomes more direct.

5
Avoiding expletive constructions

• Expletive construction It is necessary for
  students to fill in both questionnaires.
• Concise Students must fill in both
  questionnaires.

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Avoiding expletive constructions

• Expletive construction There are eight
  instructors who teach in the Computer Science
  Department.
• Concise Eight instructors teach in the Computer
  Science Department.

7
How do I draft a thesis statement?

• Your thesis statement sets out the central theme,
  which you need to sustain throughout the paper.
• As with any piece of writing, your research paper
  must fulfill the promise of its thesis statement.

8
How do I draft a thesis statement?

• You want to make your thesis statement is a
  declarative sentence, not a question.
• A good thesis statement makes an assertion that
  conveys your point of view about your topic and
  foreshadows the content of your paper.
• Your research paper needs to support your thesis
  statement.

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Basic requirements for a thesis statement

• It states the research papers subject--the topic
  that you discuss.
• It conveys the research papers purpose--either
  informative or persuasive.
• It indicates your focus--the assertion that
  presents your point of view.
• It uses specific language, not vague words.
• It may briefly state the major subdivisions of
  the research papers topic.

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Example of a first preliminary thesis statement

• Topic Emotional intelligence in computers and
  robots
• 1st preliminary thesis Artificial intelligence
  is a complicated problem.
• This draft is much too general and does not
  prepare readers for a specific focus on
  computers.

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Example of next preliminary thesis statement

• Determining whether a computer is intelligent
  is an unsolved problem.
• This thesis is better, but it still describes a
  very broad topic, and the writer needs to
  concentrate specifically on the role of emotion
  in intelligence.

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Example of a final thesis statement

• An unsolved problem is whether computers need
  emotion for scientists to consider them
  intelligent.
• This gets closer to the message. Boo yeah.